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For the past few years, meditation has
enjoyed recognition and acceptance by the mainstream as never before. In
fact, meditation, like yoga, has been practiced for thousands of years.
But apart from the popular mythologized view of people sitting
cross-legged, palms up, blissfully unruffled by their surroundings and
humming aum, most people still have only a vague idea of what meditation
really involves. And while there certainly are people who experience that
kind of bliss, most of us live our lives in varying degrees of pain and
pleasure.
If you’ve seen The Lion King, you
may have found yourself being particularly moved by the scene in which
Simba, confronted by Nala, refuses to go back and take his rightful place
as king of the pride because he feels guilty about what he assumes to be
his role in the death of his father, Mufasa. The mystical Rafiki, a great
little guru, challenges Simba to see that Mufasa really lives. He takes
Simba to a pond and shows him his reflection. In the heavens above, Mufasa
appears in shadowy form. He tells Simba, “You have forgotten who you are
and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than
what you have become. . . . Remember who you are. You are my son and the
true king. Remember who you are. . . .”
This is actually a classic metaphorical
story used to illustrate a basic truth about human existence and a reason
to meditate. There is in all of us a Self that is wise, loving, kind,
compassionate, and courageous. It goes by many names: the heart, the
source, the kingdom of heaven within, Christ consciousness, divinity,
grace, Truth, and so on. But, like Simba, we have forgotten who we are.
Since the moment we were born (or perhaps even before) we have been
conditioned by our environment, and the conditioning has formed certain
patterns of thought and emotion which have caused us to lose the awareness
of the divine being that we really are.
Meditation is a way of
quieting the noisy chatter of the patterned, conditioned mind to allow us
to regain the lost awareness of our true identity. Like Simba, we are more
than we have become. In the still pool of what we call the superconscious
mind, we see reflected back the true nature of our being.
The American Meditation
Society teaches practices designed for those of us who live in the world
of jobs, bills, spouses, and kids. Yet our teachings embody the profound
wisdom taught for many centuries to those who chose a life of religious
seclusion. In addition to the changes in spiritual consciousness, there
are other physiological and psychological benefits that accrue as people
continue to meditate. Physiological benefits include: normalized blood
pressure, improved immune function and ability to heal, slowing of the
aging process, and reduction of stress-related disorders. Psychological
benefits include: improved sense of well-being; reduction in the incidence
of depression, anger, anxiety, and irritability; improved concentration;
and enhanced creativity.
With so much to gain, why not give
meditation a chance? It’s a great way to enhance not only the quality of
our own life but also that of others around us.
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Here's an interesting one - study showing
the increase in brain plasticity, through regular meditational
practices.
quote:
Scans of Monks' Brains Show Meditation Alters Structure &
Function
In a striking difference between novices and monks, the latter
showed a dramatic increase in high-frequency brain activity
called gamma waves during compassion meditation. Thought to be
the signature of neuronal activity that knits together
far-flung brain circuits, gamma waves underlie higher mental
activity such as consciousness. The novice meditators "showed
a slight increase in gamma activity, but most monks showed
extremely large increases of a sort that has never been
reported before in the neuroscience literature," says Prof.
Davidson, suggesting that mental training can bring the brain
to a greater level of consciousness.
Using the brain scan called functional magnetic resonance
imaging, the scientists pinpointed regions that were active
during compassion meditation. In almost every case, the
enhanced activity was greater in the monks' brains than the
novices'. Activity in the left prefrontal cortex (the seat of
positive emotions such as happiness) swamped activity in the
right prefrontal (site of negative emotions and anxiety),
something never before seen from purely mental activity.
The study will be published next week in Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. "We can't rule out the
possibility that there was a pre-existing difference in brain
function between monks and novices," says Prof. Davidson, "but
the fact that monks with the most hours of meditation showed
the greatest brain changes gives us confidence that the
changes are actually produced by mental training."
That opens up the tantalizing possibility that the brain, like
the rest of the body, can be altered intentionally. Just as
aerobics sculpt the muscles, so mental training sculpts the
grey matter in ways scientists are only beginning to fathom.
By SHARON BEGLEY
From the Wall Street Journal Online.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB109959818932165108-IdjeoNhlaV3oJunaXuGa6qJm5,00.htm
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Meditation Lowers Children’s Blood Pressure
Twenty minutes of daily meditation
appeared to help reduce blood pressure in 12 year olds and likely reduce
risk of cardiovascular problems later in life, new research indicates.
In contrast, similar group received instruction about how to prevent high
blood pressure through diet and exercise actually experienced an increase
in blood pressure over three months.
These findings demonstrate that meditation may have a "potential
beneficial impact" on healthy kids, say the researchers, led by Dr. Frank
A. Treiber of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
Previous research demonstrates that people who have practiced meditation
for a long time typically have lower blood pressure than those who don't
meditate.
Experts have become increasingly interested in kids' blood pressure, since
high blood pressure is thought to have its roots in childhood, and is
linked to a high risk of future cardiovascular health problems.
During the meditation, students practiced a beginners technique, in which
they focused on their breathing, sitting upright with their eyes closed.
They were told that if their attention wavered, they should acknowledge
the distraction and focus again on their breathing. They practiced one
10-minute meditation session at school and one at home after school.
After three months of meditation, students' systolic blood pressure - the
top number in a blood pressure reading - decreased by 2 or 3 points. If
maintained over time, this small decrease in systolic pressure could
reduce the risk of dying from stroke or heart problems in adulthood by
nearly 13 percent, the authors write in the journal Psychosomatic
Medicine.
Among non-meditators, systolic blood pressure actually appeared to
increase by 1 to 4 points.
Previous research has shown that
meditation can also decrease school absence and behaviour problems among
teenagers, Treiber and his colleagues note.
"Implementation of (meditation) programs in the school setting is not only
feasible but may also be desirable because of their impact on
school-related conduct as well as possible impact on future health," they
write.
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Woodhouse BSc (Hons) Osteopathy |
